Distance learning, in-person or hybrid: What Twin Cities school districts are planning for fall
(FOX 9) - After Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced last month school districts will be able to reopen this fall either in-person, with distance or with a hybrid of the two based on COVID-19 data in their counties, many school districts in the Twin Cities metro have begun finalizing their plans the upcoming school year.
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Some of districts, such as Minneapolis Public Schools and St. Paul Public Schools, are opting to start the school year with distance learning, while others are opting for a hybrid model of both in-person and distance learning.
HENNEPIN COUNTY
Anoka-Hennepin Schools
Hybrid learning model with all K-12 students attending school in-person two days per week and participating in distance learning at home three days per week.
The district will announce specific days for each student and family no later than Aug. 14 as the district balances transportation and classroom needs.
Bloomington Public Schools
Hybrid learning model with the school start date pushed back to Tuesday, Sept. 8. Students will attend school in-person two days a week, either Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays, and learn remotely on the other days.
Families that want to keep their children at home with have the option of selecting either the district’s “Flex” option, in which students will remain enrolled at their current school and complete their assigned schoolwork remotely, or Bloomington Online School, a new option in which students commit to distance learning for the full school year and become part of an online cohort of students.
Eden Prairie Schools
Hybrid learning model with kindergarten and first grade students will return to school in person Monday through Friday. Students in grades 2-12 will be divided into two cohorts, with half attending school in person on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half on Wednesday and Thursdays. Fridays will be a virtual learning day for all students grades 2-12.
Families will have the option to continue full-time distance learning through EP Online, the district’s K-12 online school.
Hopkins Public Schools
Hybrid learning model with a phased-in approach. All students will start the school year participating in distance learning, but will transition to some in-person learning within the first four weeks of the school year.
Students in grades K-1 will begin in-person learning within days of the start of the school year and students in grades 2-6 will begin in-person learning within the first two weeks. K-1 students will learn in person four days a week while 2-6 students will learn in person two days a week. On days when they are not scheduled in person, students will learn remotely.
Students in grades 7-12 will stay in a distance learning model for up to four weeks as the district watches Hennepin County health data.
The district will offer all families the choice of participating in the hybrid learning model or full-time distance learning for the school year.
Minneapolis Public Schools
Full distance learning model for all grades with in-person support available.
However, the school district is planning for five different phases with various learning models ranging from full distance learning at home to full in-person learning that it could move to throughout the school year based on infection rates in Hennepin County.
St. Louis Park Public Schools
Distance learning model for all students to start the school year, but will slowly transition to a hybrid learning model. Early learning through second grade students will transition to a hybrid model on Sept. 28 and students in grades 3-12 will move to a hybrid model on Oct. 5.
Families will have the choice to continue full-time distance learning.
Waconia Public Schools - ISD 110
Hybrid and in-person learning models with with K-5 students attending school in person every day and 6-12 students attending in person on certain days and participating in distance learning when they are not in the building.
K-5 students will attend school in person daily, but they will be separated into learning pods. The district describes a learning pod as two classrooms of students split into three learning spaces. Each learning pod will have two teachers and one educational assistant.
Middle and high school students, those in grade 6-12, will be on a rotational schedule with half the students attending school in person on Mondays and Thursday and half attending in person on Tuesdays and Fridays. Wednesdays will be for students who need additional help. Students will learn virtually on days when they are not in the building.
All families will have the option to opt out of in-person learning and the district will provide a distance learning option for those students.
Wayzata Public Schools
Hybrid learning model that divides students into two groups, with half attending classes in-person on Mondays and Wednesdays and others on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On days they students are not in the classroom, they will participate in distance learning. Everyone will participate in distance learning on Fridays.
RAMSEY COUNTY
St. Paul Public Schools
Full distance learning with all students learning at home virtually.
DAKOTA COUNTY
District 196/Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools
Hybrid learning model with K-12 students divided into two cohorts by family. Each cohort will attend school in-person two days per week, with one cohort at school Mondays and Thursdays and the other at school on Tuesdays and Fridays. On other days, students will be learning from home.
Families will also have a full-time distance learning option if they do not want their children to attend school in-person.
Lakeville Area Schools
Hybrid model with all K-12 students learning in-person two days per week and participating in distance learning three days per week. Classrooms will be at 50 percent room capacity with students wearing face coverings and social distancing.
However, parents can opt to enroll their children in full-time distance learning.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
South Washington County Schools
Hybrid learning model with all K-12 students divided into two groups by family. One group will attend school in-person on Mondays and Wednesdays while the other group will attend school in-person on Tuesday and Thursday. Friday will be a flexible instruction day where students could attend school in-person for exams, labs, individual or small group learning or participate in distance learning.
Stillwater Area Public Schools
Hybrid learning model with K-12 students learning in-person two days per week and at home the other three days.
Parents will be allowed to choose whether they want their children to participate in the hybrid model or full-time distance learning, but they are asked to commit to their choice for the first quarter of the school year.